We recently released modifications to our website and to the full-text article delivery capabilities within JSTOR that enhance the archive's accessibility for visually impaired and learning disabled users. Improving accessibility to the JSTOR website and the JSTOR archive for this particular group of users is consistent with our mission to extend access to the archive as broadly as possible. In addition to benefiting visually impaired and learning disabled users, these modifications also help a number of our library participants who may have obligations to comply with various accessibility requirements.

Challenges in Creating an Accessible Archive

Improving the accessibility of the JSTOR archive poses unique challenges because journal content in the archive is delivered to end users in image-based formats. Unlike material that appears online in text or HTML format, PDF images are not compatible with the screen reading software relied upon by many visually impaired users; however, this image-based approach is central to the fulfillment of JSTOR's mission, which is in part to function as a trusted archive upon which libraries can depend. This is a basis for our not-for-profit status and is a key premise on which we were founded. If libraries are to rely on our archive of journals, JSTOR must deliver the journal content in a manner that preserves the integrity and the "look and feel" of the original print journals. Therefore, we are developing mechanisms to deliver the images in a format compatible with assistive technologies.

TIFF Download Option

As a first step in facilitating access while remaining true to our archival mission, we now offer users the ability to download articles in TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) as well as image-based PDF and PostScript formats. Through the TIFF approach, each page image for an article is packaged into a single, multipage file. Once downloaded, this file can be directly opened and read with a document scanner and reader, such as Kurzweil 1000. Alternatively, the TIFFs can be used with Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software to convert the image file to text. The images that make up these TIFF packages are the same as those used to create our High Quality PDFs and therefore, the two formats are virtually identical in file size and quality.

Improved Site Navigation

In addition to improving the accessibility of journal material in JSTOR through the creation of the TIFF download option, we have completed the first phase of accessibility improvements to our website that will better enable users of assistive technology to navigate to the TIFF option. Many of these modifications streamline the navigation process and make it more intuitive, thereby improving the usability of the site and overall user experience for the broader JSTOR community. The modifications we have made thus far represent a major step in our efforts to make all pages within the JSTOR website compliant with standards relied on by the accessibility community - Section 508 of The Rehabilitation Act and W3C WAI Priority 1 standards. With our latest modifications, all of the main pages a user encounters in the process of retrieving JSTOR journal content are compliant.

JSTOR tested these changes by using popular screen readers and by engaging accessibility experts and members of the visually impaired community, who reviewed the modifications and provided useful feedback. Our improvements to the navigability of our website have been well received. Likewise, JSTOR's delivery of content in TIFF format, while not as preferable to users of assistive technologies as text-based format, is appreciated in light of our need to balance the interests of the accessibility community and the fulfillment of our archival mission.

Axel Schmetzke, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Reference and Instruction at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, says:

JSTOR has been most responsive to recent concerns about the accessibility of online information products. Not only did JSTOR re-design its website (its gateway web pages to its archival articles files) to accommodate the needs of all users, including those with visual disabilities, it also decided to add TIFF files as an output option for its archived articles. While TIFF files are still image-based, they provide fewer hurdles than PDF-image files for those users who seek to convert them into accessible text files with the help of OCR software. … Certainly, this is a step in the right direction. …
This non-profit organization is to be commended for its sincere and ongoing effort to improve the accessibility of its product. …

According to Bryna Coonin, Coastal Resources Management Librarian, East Carolina University, "JSTOR is among the very few vendors of electronic library products who are currently aware of, and seriously attempting to address, issues of accessibility. JSTOR is making a genuine effort to make this valuable resource more accessible to all of its authorized users."

We look forward to working with our participants and the visually impaired community to further these accessibility improvements, and would appreciate any feedback or questions you might have about our recent efforts. Further details about JSTOR and accessibility, including instructions for accessing and using the TIFF option, are available on our website at http://www.jstor.org/about/accessibility.html.

Last updated on September 8, 2006